Page 10 of The Bloody Ruin Asylum & Taproom (Sam Quinn #7)

Six

Well, Shit

It was the dark-haired, mustachioed vamp who’d been staring at me in the hall of the Guild. Apparently, he was the one following me. Fine. Fuck it. I couldn’t run again. If he wanted to attack me, I’d kick his ass. Possibly.

When I looked up again, he was gone. Asshole was just going to lurk and make me twitchy. I said goodnight to the host and left at the same time as a larger group. Thankfully, they seemed to be happily drunk and didn’t notice my trailing behind them.

When they eventually turned into the lobby of a hotel, I continued on to the bridge back across the river. In the wee hours of the morning, the bridge was empty. If he was going to attack, it’d probably be here.

Monitoring him in my head, I loosened my jacket so I could grab the axe quickly.

I doubted he was expecting an axe or claws.

A normal wolf took time to shift. I was a Quinn, though, the origin line of werewolves, and could shift with a thought.

Of course, I was still recovering from my last brawl with a vampire, so I wasn’t getting delusional about my chances.

When I reached the center of the bridge, I braced for him to fly at me, but instead he kept pace, half a bridge away. Why the hell was he just following me?

My thigh was throbbing, but it felt a little stronger after I’d rested and eaten.

I could make it back to the asylum. I decided this time I’d just climb the fence and deal with the barbed wire.

Or maybe I should wait for my vamp stalker to catch up so I could trail him back into the Guild. Presumably, he knew a way.

He didn’t attack and I didn’t stop. By the time I made it back to The Bloody Ruin Asylum & Taproom, I understood the name.

The former asylum—current Guild headquarters—loomed on the hill, high above the bar, with broken windows and walls stained with what looked, from the distance, like blood.

It rose over the surrounding trees like a zombie lurching toward town.

I’d almost walked past the ruin bar because, though the sign had said it was open until three, that was clearly just one of its many possible closing times. It was a little after two and the place was locked up and dark. Super.

Checking again, I found the vamp moving closer, though still a block or so away.

I was just reaching for my phone to call Clive when I heard angry Hungarian words snarled at me. Damn it. My focus had been on the vampire tailing me and the creepy building haunting me, not the stupid wolf rolling up on me.

Like the asylum, he loomed. Unlike it, he didn’t scare me. “I don’t speak Hungarian.”

He was probably six foot four, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. Voice deep and menacing, he sneered, “Get. Out.”

I nodded. “Understood. I’m in your territory. Sorry about that. I didn’t know there was a pack in Budapest. It’s not like I can consult a directory of European Wolf Packs, though that would be super helpful.”

His anger seemed to be tilting into confusion. Perfect. It was my goal in life to keep my enemies off balance.

“So you see, I couldn’t call and ask for permission, as I wouldn’t have known who to call. Let’s just get this over with now. Can you tell your Alpha I’m visiting with my husband, and we promise not to start any shit with the wolves. Okay?”

Growling, he reached out to grab the front of my jacket.

I blocked his arm while grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back.

I shoved him down and leapt on his back with my knees.

He roared quietly. I think we were trying not to call attention to ourselves.

There were lots of apartment windows overlooking our dustup.

He tried to buck me off but I wasn’t moving, and neither was his arm. In fact, I jammed it farther up to get him to stop struggling.

“Listen, you don’t like me in your territory.” I leaned down, dropping my voice even more. “I get it. I won’t be here long. You’re going to need to relax, though. Okay?”

When I smelled another wolf, I straightened up and found a gun leveled at my head. Shit! No wonder that takedown had been so easy. I stared into the eyes of the wolf with the gun, letting mine lighten to gold. I was fast and I knew it. Still, a gun aimed at your face was off-putting.

I grabbed the gun, yanking it out of his hand while backflipping off the downed wolf to give myself some room. If I had to fight two or more wolves, I needed some space to evaluate the situation.

Pocketing the gun, I drew the axe over my shoulder in my right hand and unleashed the claws on my left. They could come at me if they wanted, but they’d leave bloody.

The vamp was nearby, because of course he was. My gaze flicked to the right and I saw him in the deep dark between two buildings, leaning against the wall and watching.

The wolf I’d had pinned was getting to his feet. Neither had noticed the vampire. Both were staring at my claws with looks of disbelief.

The new wolf, who’d recently been divested of his gun, was shorter than his buddy, with light hair, a thick beard, and close-set brown eyes.

The taller one whispered something and then the bearded one finally tore his eyes from my claws and said, “Kin?”

Kin? As in family? “Quinn? Are you asking if I’m a Quinn? Because yes, I am.”

The bearded one took out his phone and swiped through it. A woman answered and they spoke in Hungarian for a moment before she said, “I am Viktoria. László, the Master of Budapest, asks that I find out who you are and why you’re here.”

“Sure. I’m Sam Quinn. I’m from the U.S. My husband and I are just on a quick trip. He has business here. I won’t cause trouble in your territory, and we’ll be gone before you know it.”

She translated my response into Hungarian. László, the taller one, asked something and she said, “Which hotel are you staying in?”

My gaze darted to the vampire. He’d moved farther into the dark, but he watched, eyebrows raised, no doubt waiting to see if I’d spill vampire secrets. “We’re not. We’re staying with friends in a private residence.”

Hungarian in both directions and then, “Where?”

I could have lied to buy time, but I didn’t want to start down that road. “I’m sorry but I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?” Viktoria asked. She didn’t wait to translate for László that time.

“Just as I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to share information about your pack, I cannot share information about our hosts. As I said, we won’t be here long, and I’ll try not to do anything to bother you while I’m in your city.”

Hungarian flew back and forth and then László sniffed me and spat, “Vámpír.”

“Well, if you knew, why did you ask?” Stupid wolves.

“László says you reek of vampires. He thought perhaps you’d been fed on, but now he sees that you welcome the leeches.”

I’d been so hopeful I was getting out of this unscathed. “First of all, rude. Do I love all vampires? No. I’m not stupid. But then again, there are a lot of really shitty wolves too, so maybe take it down a notch. My husband is a vampire, and his business is his own, not yours.”

“Thank you, darling. I appreciate your loyalty.” Clive had clearly done that trick of his, seeming to appear out of thin air, causing both wolves to flinch.

When he wrapped his arm around me, I kissed him on the cheek. “I wanted to tell them that you were bigger and stronger and could kick their asses, but it felt a little childish. I was thinking it, though.”

Clive’s lips twitched. “And that warms my cold, dead heart.” He spoke to the wolves in Hungarian and the men snarled something back.

On the phone, Viktoria said, “You are visitors in our city and László, as Master, has every right to know who you are and why you’re here.”

“And I told him what I could,” I said.

László let out a stream of very angry Hungarian words and Clive responded.

They went back and forth a few times, Clive remaining calm.

He nodded at whatever the wolf had said and pulled the gun from my pocket, returning it to Budapest’s Master.

With that, Clive tipped his head to László and then turned us around to walk away.

I glanced over my shoulder and found the Alpha glaring after us.

“What was that about?” I asked.

In a moment, Clive responded.

At the corner, his gaze traveled over me, checking to make sure I was okay. I glanced back again and found the street behind us now empty.

Lifting my axe, I said, “Can you help me put this back?”

He swept my hair over my shoulder and had the axe secured a moment later. Taking my hand, we continued down the same road. You’re limping.

I know. There was a stupid vampire following me when I was in the tunnel. I thought he was going to attack me, so I ran.

Clive paused a moment, the pain lessening significantly, and then turned his back to me. “Climb on.” Clive could hurt others with his mind, but he could also draw the pain away, which he did for me now.

The throbbing had stopped but my leg was still injured, so I took the piggyback ride. Clive was careful not to grab where the break had been.

Do you know who followed you? he asked.

No. I saw him lurking at the end of the hall to our bedroom, but when I came back out a few minutes later, he was gone.

I felt a vampire following me in the tunnel—he was too powerful in that moment for me to try to read him—so I ran in case he was one of those vamps who hates werewolves or the super angry one from the meeting room.

The one following you didn’t try to hurt you? Clive’s voice in my head was cautious. I didn’t think he knew what to make of the strange behavior either.

No. He followed me to the restaurant and then apparently watched me eat, because I saw him as I was leaving. Then he followed me back over the bridge. He was tucked between two buildings when the wolves attacked. He didn’t do anything, though. Just watched.

Have you acquired a new admirer?

Doubtful, I scoffed.

What does he look like?